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WILKES'S DISCOVERIES.
[Chap. IX.
1841
longitude, and those of our immortal Cook in the meridian of 107° W., in January, 1774; for I confidently believe with M. D'Urville, that the enormous mass of ice which bounded his view when at his extreme south latitude was a range of mountainous land covered with snow.[1]
March 4.But to resume our narrative. As soon as our damages were repaired, we made all sail to the N.E., on account of the wind having increased to a gale from E.S.E., placing our ships in a very critical situation; for on the chart which Lieutenant Wilkes was so good as to send me of the discoveries of the expedition under his command, entitled a "Tracing of the Icy Barrier attached to the Antarctic Continent discovered by the United States Exploring Expedition," is laid down a range of mountainous land extending about sixty miles in a S.W. and N.E. direction; its centre being in lat. 65° 40′, and long. 165° E., with the eastern extreme of the barrier in 167½° E., and thus presenting a formidable lee shore in our present position. We were therefore in a state of considerable anxiety and uncertainty for some hours as to whether the ships could weather the land and barrier. We pressed all the canvass on them they could bear, but lost much ground in the frequent necessity that occurred to bear away to leeward of the numerous icebergs we met with during the thick weather which prevailed. In the evening we- ↑ Voyage au Sud Pole, tome ii. p. 7.
